


The many betrayals of Albus Dumbledore

by 1booklover1



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bullying, F/M, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Oneshot, Teacher Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:14:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24647767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1booklover1/pseuds/1booklover1
Summary: A short oneshot based on the soulmate au where you have your enemy's name on one wrist and your soulmate's name on the other. What if Harry's enemy is actually his soulmate and his trusted mentor his enemy? I have a lot of feelings about Dumbledore and not many of them are positive.Edited 02/01/2021
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 168





	The many betrayals of Albus Dumbledore

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! this is my first work I've posted on ao3 and it's not particularly well written - I came up with it in the shower and just wrote it down. I didn't come up with this soulmate au though, I think I saw it on Tumblr so if you know whose idea it was please tell me so I can credit them. Enjoy!

On the night of Harry's tenth birthday, he laid awake counting down the hours until midnight, too nervous to sleep. After what seemed like an eternity, he heard the clock in the kitchen chime twelve faintly through the cupboard door. Almost immediately his wrists started burning, imprinting Harry with two names on his skin. His worst enemy and his soulmate, with no way of telling which name was which. For most people, their enemy was simply the person they would get on the worst with and they mainly focused on finding their soulmate but Harry was almost sick with anxiety about what his wrists could reveal.

Eventually he slowly looked down and let out a sigh of relief when he didn't recognise either of the names. His right wrist read Draco Malfoy in small printed letters while his left wrist read Albus Dumbledore in a flamboyant curling script.

He stared at them for a while before the panic set in as he realised that both of the names were traditionally male. He had never imagined that the person he was destined to be with could be a man, especially with the Dursley's drilling into him about being 'normal'. He stayed up most of the night thinking this through and dreading their reaction when they would find out.

The year that followed was particularly difficult for Harry. The Dursley's were increasingly hostile towards him and leading by his parents example, Dudley bullied Harry worse than ever. Although they had celebrated Dudley's name reveals the year before and showed them off to everyone who asked, they encouraged Harry to wear long sleeves and changed the subject when anyone asked. Harry wasn't surprised by their outdated beliefs but it still stung all the same.

One year later, it was almost a relief for Harry when the Dursley's stopped being mad at him for the text on his wrists and instead got mad at him for being a wizard. Slightly in shock from Hagrid's announcement that he was a wizard, he had almost missed Dumbledore's name at the bottom of his Hogwart's letter until Hagrid explained to him who he is .He tried to ask Hagrid more about him but he evaded his questions and made him go back to sleep. 

The next few weeks seemed to disappear and before Harry knew it, he was on the Hogwarts express, eating what seemed like the entire content of the sweet trolley with his new friend Ron. He tore into his third chocolate frog but paused when he saw the image and the text underneath, saying in flamboyant, curling text Albus Dumbledore. Harry, busy studying the moving picture of him, didn't notice someone enter his carriage until a loud sneering voice startled him. A blond boy around the same age of Harry insulted Ron's family before turning to Harry and introducing himself as Draco Malfoy. Ron managed to get him out of the carriage while Harry slumped in the seat in shock, looking once more at the chocolate frog card in his hand. 

How could an elderly friendly looking man be his enemy and a rude arrogant boy be his soulmate?

The answer to the first question dawned on Harry bit by bit but almost seven years later he finally understood as he walked into the forbidden forest, alone except for the ghosts surrounding him. 

Dumbledore left him at the Dursley's and made him return every year despite knowing what they were like, he allowed the Philosopher's stone into the castle in his first year knowing that Voldemort would come after it, he made little effort to track down the the monster from the Chamber of Secrets in his second year which lead to Ginny almost dying, he let Sirius be taken to Azkaban without a trial then didn't make any attempt to declare him innocent despite being Chief Warlock which meant he had to stay on the run and prevented Harry from moving in with him, he let Harry be entered in the Triwizard tournament in Harry's fourth year and failed to notice that one of the teachers was a death eater, he didn't try to stop Umbridge in his fifth year and then resigned which lead to the battle at the Ministry where Sirius died and he failed to tell Harry about the prophecy that lead to his parents being killed or why he had to stay at the Dursleys until then, he only told Harry about the horcruxes in his sixth year and then left Harry with the job of hunting them down and finally the most important reason, the reason Harry only understood when he opened the snitch. 

Dumbledore had planned for Harry to die. For years he had protected Harry, even trained him all for this moment so he could sacrifice himself for the wizarding world. Harry went into the forest knowing that he had been betrayed and even though he should have expected it, a clear warning on his wrist, he hadn't and it hurt.

It took him a further seven years to figure out the other name as he and Draco Malfoy joined Hogwarts as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions professors. Harry began to understand that Draco was as much as a pawn in the war as he was and Draco slowly managed redeemed himself, quickly becoming one of the best potions masters Hogwarts had ever had. Their childhood hatred calmed into a friendly rivalry and they slowly became friends despite the pain Harry felt every time he caught a glimpse of Draco's bare wrists. Harry even invited Draco to Ron and Hermione's wedding who had been together ever since Hermione had finally confronted Ron about the name on her wrist after the disastrous events of the Yule Ball. Watching the happy couple slow dance, Harry finally plucked up courage and untied the leather bracelet that had covered his wrist since first year and showed it to Draco in silence. Draco looked at in surprise for a few moments before casting revelio on his own wrist which changed to reveal the name Harry Potter in untidy scrawl. Their many years of petty rivalry forgotten, they spent the rest of the evening talking about how stupid they had been until Draco softly kissed Harry under the glow of the moon.


End file.
